1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet discharge mechanism used in a printer or facsimile machine for example. In particular, the present invention relates to a sheet discharge mechanism capable of discharging paper sheets without causing sheet transfer errors. The present invention also relates to apparatus incorporating such a sheet discharge mechanism.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is well known, a typical sheet discharge mechanism may include a rotatable shaft driven by a suitable actuator, and a plurality of discharge rollers fixed to the shaft. The discharge mechanism may also include urging members arranged in facing relation to the discharge rollers for contacting paper sheets with the discharge rollers. In use, the discharge rollers are rotated together with the shaft, so that a paper sheet held in contact with the discharge rollers is moved in a predetermined direction to be discharged into a tray for example.
The conventional sheet discharge mechanism has the following problem. Specifically, to be properly discharged into the tray, the paper sheet, once detached from the discharge rollers, needs to keep a sufficient distance from the rotating discharge rollers. However, it may occur that the rear end portion of the paper sheet, once released, is accidentally brought back into contact with the discharge rollers. When this happens, the paper sheet is unduly drown back into the printer, which may lead to breakdown of the printer.